Tamil is written using modern Tamil script which was evolved from Grantha script, Vattezhutthu (means rounded letters) and Tamil Brahmi. Just like the Latin alphabet, the Tamil script has letters representing vowels and consonants. In addition, unlike the Latin alphabet, there are letters representing combinations of vowels and consonants! For example, to represent 'PA' using Tamil script we have to combine the consonant ப் (P) with the vowel அ (A) to form ப (PA). This type of letters are simply called as uyirmeyyeḻuttu or vowel-consonants.

The Tamil script has 12 vowels, 18 consonants and 216 vowel-consonants (12 vowels x 18 consonants = 216 vowel-consonants). In addition, there is a special letter called āytam (ஃ) which is classified as neither a consonant nor a vowel. Hence, the complete script is comprised of 247 letters!

In Tamil, vowels are called as Uyirezhutthu which means soul-letters, consonants are called as Meiyezhutthu which means body-letters and vowel-consonants are called as Uyirmeiyezhutthu which means body & soul letters. Do you have any idea of why vowels are called as souls? It is because they give life (sound) to the soundless bodies - consonants!

Most Tamil speakers live in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore. Tamil is recognized as an official language in India, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. Within India, Tamil is spoken mainly in Tamil Nadu, a state in India. Emigrant Tamil speakers live all over the world and have taken their language with them to their new communities.

emigrant — someone who has moved from the area where they were born to another country or region.

Some of the oldest Tamil writing can be seen in rock inscriptions from somewhere between 250 and 500BC. The oldest work of Tamil literature, called தொல்காப்பியம் (tholkaappiyam, or "ancient vault"), was written sometime between 300BC and 1000AD. This work is a grammar book for Tamil.

Tamil has always been spoken by people of the Tamil culture in India since antiquity; the history of the language (and of the similar south Indian languages belonging to the Dravidian family of languages) before this is not clear. Tamil literature was developed during the classical period by literature events hosted at the historic Tamil city of Madurai by different Tamil kings.

திருவள்ளுவர் (thiruvalluvar) is a popular Tamil poet, who wrote the திருக்குறள் (thirukkural). It is a collection of philosophical and practical advice, and has been widely translated to the languages of the world.

What could my mother be
to yours? What kin is my father
to yours anyway? And how
Did you and I meet ever?
But in love
our hearts have mingled
as red earth and pouring rain
-- chembulap peyaneeraar (a nickname meaning "[one who sang of] red earth and pouring rain")
Translated by AK Ramanujan(kurunthogai குறுந்தொகை - poem 40)
A poem from the Eight Anthologies எட்டுத்தொகை collection.